NEWS

Gloucester Coal profit down 59% to $18.1m

Published 1:29 PM, 23 Feb 2010



Source: News Bites

Gloucester Coal Ltd net profit was $18.1 million for the six months to December 31, 2009, down 58.8% from $44 million a year ago, on revenue of $103.7 million, down from $137.3 million.

EPS were 22.1c, down from 53.6c. There was no dividend.

Coal sales totalled 914kt, down from 921kt a year ago.

Gloucester Coal has lodged an environmental assessment with the NSW Department of Planning for the extension to the Duralie facility. The company also expects to announce an update to JORC reserves by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2009-10.

The cash balance was $4.4 million, lower than last year due to the acquisition of eight CAT 785C XQ dump trucks and the final tax payment for 2009. In the current period the company entered into a seven-year Chattel Mortgage Facility for up to $US33 million ($A36.6 million) to finance the acquisition of eleven CAT 785C XQ dump trucks.

The company received a takeover offer from Macarthur Coal Ltd on December 22, 2009. The offer is due to close in early May.

CEO Barry Tudor said the sales price of Gloucester’s semi-hard coking coal fell by more than 60% from last year but the company was able to maintain healthy volumes and solid margins. "Over this half year the company has delivered excellent production performance, additional JORC reserves from a continuing focus on exploration and progress on our expansion plans,” Mr Tudor said.

The company says its outlook is positive, with substantially higher hard coking coal spot prices compared to last year. The company recently entered into a contract to supply coal at $US164 per tonne.

STOCK DASHBOARD: February 23, 2010

Gloucester Coal

Price at 11:00 am: $9.0

Price change from previous trading day: 0.9%

Relative Strength (6 months percentile rank): 81.7

Market capitalisation: $737.7 million

Dividend Yield: 3.3%

Price/Earnings: 9.0 times

Turnover volume: 6,395.0

Volume Index (1 is average): 0.1

Turnover value: $57,494

Turnover period: 10 months

Value of $1,000 invested 1 year ago: $2,727

Source: www.BuySellTips.com




|